
Class Q_t 



Book : IX 



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COPIES OF 



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LETTERS 7 



SENT TO THE 



CLERGY OF EXETER, 

From 1796 to 1800, 

WITH 

COMMUNICATIONS andPROPHECIES 

Put in the Newspapers in 1813. 
BY JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 

LONDON: 

Printed by Marchant and Gakbin, Ingram-Court ; and sold by W. To z Eft, 
Chapel-Place, Duke-Street, Westminster-Road, Southwaris ; also by 
the Miss Eveleighs, St. Sidwell's, Exeter; S. Hirst, Leeds; W„ 
Wadmin, York ; James Licet, Coventry-Street, Stourbridge; Edmunb 
Baker, Ilminster; C. Bradley, Digbeth, Birmingham; John Nesbit* 
Gravesend; and T. Turpin, Greenwich. 

1813. 

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. 



^ % r 



.51 



O 






1$ exchange 
Harvard Oteiy.Lia 

WAR 15 1908 



I SHALL begin this Book with the Prophecies, 
which I was* ordered to put into the newspapers, 
as they may otherwise be lost. 

The first advertisement, in the Times paper, 
Oct. 28, 1813: 

Joanna Southcott's Letter to the Nation. 

I, Joanna Southcott, have been more than 
twelve years publicly warning the nation of what 
the Lord hath revealed unto me he will do upon 
the earth ; and the events have been daily fulfilling 
abroad and at home, which causes some to believe 
the Visitation to be from the Lord ; while others, 
with the most infamous abuse and falsehood, have 
publicly declared me to be an Impostor ; and others, 
with the same ignorance and folly, say that my 
Writings are from the devil, full of blasphemy, and 
wondered that the Bishops should have suffered me 
to go on in this manner. I have borne the mock- 
ery and abuse of men ; but now let all their wonder 
cease ; for I shall return to mock them, as they 
have mocked me, and prove it is the devil, in the 
form of men, from whence all this malice and per- 
secution proceed. 

And now I shall say with David, " If I have 
been vile, I will still be viler :" and if I have 
been bold, I will be bolder. — To my other Prophe- 
cies I have added two Books, lately published, 
entitled, " Book of Wonders ;" and five more will 
appear hereafter, which I defy all the Bishops in 
England, the Members of Parliament, and all the 
Judges in the land, with all the judgment they 
can form together, to be able to prove these two 
books of Wonders, with the other Prophecies, 
were ever brought round by the wisdom and know- 

A 2 



ledge of the devil, or by the wisdom and know- 
ledge of an Impostor. 

Let the Bishops come forward with the Rev. 
Mr. Pomeroy, and I will soon convince them that 
I could as soon make the world, as I could make 
my writings, and bring them round in the manner 
they have been brought round to be fulfilled. I 
am not so wise as the world makes me ; therefore, 
I shall give unto the Lord the honour and glory 
that is due unto his name : and those that say they 
are from the devil, I shall turn their blasphemy 
upon their own heads ; because it is blasphemy to 
say, that such wisdom, knowledge, and power, 
can be in the devil. And I was answered this 
morning, that if men went on in this way, and the 
Bishops did not awaken, to prove , the calling is 
from on high, to stop this blasphemy in men, that 
awful judgments should now come on, upon them 
and upon the nation : for these are the words said 
unto me: — 

"I will laugh at their calamity ; T will mock 
ct when their fear cometh : when your fear cometh 
" as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a 
u whirlwind : when distress and anguish come 
" upon you; then shall they call upon me, but I 
" will not answer ; they shall seek me early, but 
" they shall not find me: fori have looked and 
" there is none to help ; and I wondered that there 
u was none to uphold ; therefore mine own arm 
" brought salvation unto me; and my fury upheld 
" me ; and I will tread down the people in mine 
" anger, and make them drunk in my fury; I will 
" bring down their strength to the earth." 

This is the voice of the Lord unto me, from the 
scripture Prophecies. — " The watchmen are blind; 
" they are all ignorant ; they are all dumb dogs 
<c that cannot bark, sleeping, laying down to 
" slumber." — But this is the answer of the Lord to 
me — " They shall be visited of the Lord of hosts 



u with thunder and with earthquake, and great 
*' noise, with storms and tempests, and the flame 
" of devouring fire. Stay yourselves and wonder, 
" cry ye out, and cry, they are drunken, but not 
i( with wine; they are staggered, but not with 
cf strong drink. The Lord shall 20 forth a* a 
<c mighty man ; he shall stir up jealousy as a man 
cc of war ; he shall cry, yea, roar ; he shall prevail 
" against his enemies. — I have long time holden 
" my peace; I have been still and refrained my- 
<e self; now will I cry like a travailing woman : I 
" will destroy and devour at once." 

Here are the threatenings, that I am now ordered 
to bring out to the Nation, of the Scriptures that 
the Lord will fulfil, if men now carelessly sleep, 
after this warning; but if they awake as men 
out of sleep, and obey the call ; then they may 
look to the Promises in the following chapters : 
Isaiah 1 — 8, 9, chapter xlvi. chapter Ixv. and 
chapter Ixvi. 

This I am ordered to put in the public papers; 
and if I have no one to come forward to plead my 
cause for me, the Lord is working a way for me to 
plead it myself, and shame all that shamed me, and 
confound all that confounded me. 

Now as Rowland Hill called my friends three- 
and-twenty mad fools, for believing that my Visi- 
tation was from the Lord ; let him bring forward 
three-and-twenty mad fools to prove these Two 
Books, which I have lately published, with my 
other Prophecies, were ever brought round by the 
wisdom of a woman, or the wisdom of the devil ; 
then they must be mad fools indeed, if they at- 
tempt it ; for it has been none but mad fools that 
have written a book against me yet, by Satan's 
forming himself in them ; and that their publica- 
tions have proved. 

JOANNA SOUTHCOTT, 
Oct. 28*/?. 1813. 



The second Advertisement, in the Morning Herald, 
November 9th } 1813. 

A WARNING TO THE BISHOPS, FROM JOANNA 
SOUTHCOTT, BY THE COMMAND OF THE 
LORD. 

AS the Public say that the Bishops will not give 
themselves the trouble of searching whether my 
Visitation is of God, or not, the following answer 
was given to me by the Spirit : — 

" If they go on according to the judgment of 
men, and thou art confined one year in this house, 
as a prisoner, through their neglect, then in one 
year I will cut them all off, like the three signs I 
have mentioned. Know I told thee I should begin 
at the sanctuary." 

The first sign was of the Bishop's death, in 1796, 
which was put in the hand of the Rev. Mr. Pome- 
roy. The second sign was in 1801 ; as the Bishop 
of Exeter refused to hear of the Visitation, I was 
ordered to come to London, and St. Peter's bell 
should toll for the Bishop when I returned to Ex- 
eter again, and this was fulfilled in 1803. The 
other was the threatening to the Bishop of London, 
in 1804, as he refused to hear of the Visitation, 
when applied to. And, as the Lord fulfilled his 
word with them, lam answered, that he will fulfil 
his word with all, if they do not exert the power 
they are invested with. And this I am strictly 
commanded to put in the newspaper. 

And now I am called back to my former wri- 
tings, where it is said, " One month you'll see 
your destiny, what will befall your land;" so this 
month fixes the destiny for the ensuing year, either 
for blessings or judgments. If the Bishops keep 
silence till this month of November is over, then 
they may keep silence until next November, 1814* 



for I am answered, that now the time is come of 
the fulfilment of a letter I sent to the Rev. Mr. 
Pomeroy, in 1796 :— " Awake, my Shepherds, 
saith the Lord, lest I kindle a fire in mine anger, 
and a wrath in my fury, that shall burn to the ne- 
thermost hell. But if ye awake, O Zion, and put 
on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, then 
Shall your light break forth as the morning, and 
your righteousness appear as the noon-day sun ; and 
God, even our God, will give us his blessing. 

These are the promises, these are the threaten- 
ings, which I was ordered to send to him, in 1796 ; 
and now I am answered, that the Lord will fulfil 
them one way or other, according as the command 
is obeyed or disobeyed. The Bishops are now called 
upon to judge between the Shepherd and the Sheep, 
from a book lately published, entitled, " The Se- 
cond Book of Wonders/' 

JOANNA SOUTHCOTT. 

*** The Book alluded to is sold at M. Jones's, 
No. 5, Newgate-Street. °* * 

In consequence of the last-mentioned advertise- 
ment, many persons applied to the bookseller for 
the book therein pointed out ; but when the " Se- 
cond Book of Wonders" was offered to them as 
such ; they all refused taking it, saying that they 
wanted the Warning to the Bishops ; and nothing 
that was said could induce any one to take the 
book. In consequence of such a misconception, 
more copies of the " Second Book of Wonders" 
were sent to the bookseller, with the following 
words written on the title page of each : — 

This is the " Second Book of Wonders," 
mentioned in the newspaper, that the Bishops are 
applied to for to judge between the Rev. Mr. 
Pomeroy and me, from the letters which passed 
between us in 1804. See 31st page. 

The first wonder is, that Joanna Southcott hath 



8 
Jived more than sixty years in the world, yet un- 
known to the world, that she still stands a wonder 
to mankind. Secondly, the world is a wonder to 
her, that she lives in a world unknown to her, and 
she to them. So here stand the two wonders, the 
Man and Woman wondering at each other; but 
whence more zvonders appear, then all their won- 
ders may cease. 

Joanna Southcott. 

This requires some explanation, why I say I 
have lived more than sixty ye?i*s in the world, and 
yet unknown to the world : it is because they know 
not in what manner the Lord drew my heart to 
him in my early age • neither do they know what 
strength of faith the Lord gave me to rely upon 
the promises of God, which stand on record — that 
the gates of hell should never prevail against a true 
believer in Christ : for he that believeth in the Son, 
must beljeve in the Father also. This is un- 
known to the world — the strength of faith that the 
Lord hath given me, to believe and rely upon all 
his promises, before I was visited by the Spirit of 
Prophecies ; and how the Lord made himself 
known to me by small things, before he called me 
to great ones. Therefore they know not the man- 
ner of my Visitation : for this is unknown to the 
world — they know not the Master, nor the Servant: 
they know not the Father nor the Child : neither 
do they know the days of their own Visitation. 

So here I stand unknown to man, 

And to the world unknown ; 
And though believers I have some, 

The world from them is gone. 

As they are gone from the wisdom of the world, 
through faith, which the worldly wisdom cannot 
join in ; because the world by wisdom knoweth 
not God : and if believers are joined with unbe- 
lievers, they think they are mad. 



Now I shall come to the other observation, why 
I live in the world unknown to me : it is because I 
have been deceived by professors of religion of all 
sects and parties, 1 have found men professing to 
be my friend one day, and my enemy the next ; I 
have found men professing a true belief in the 
Scriptures, but when put to the trial of their faith, 
I find they are weighed in the balance and found 
wanting. I have heard many from their pulpit 
preach the truth of the Gospel ; but when I have 
brought them to their own doctrine, they have de- 
nied in conversation the very things they had been 
preaching. And this I have experienced among 
all sects and parties of religion ; so that I may say, 
I live in a world that I know not what religion they 
are of; for when put to the trial, they deny the 
very things they profess to believe. This is one 
reason why I say I live in the world unknow to me ; 
another reason is the different principles I have met 
with in mankind, from the sincere friendship I have 
met with in some, and the ingratitude and cruelty I 
have met with in others : and from my general ob- 
servations of the world, from the different conduct 
I see in men, it makes me at a loss to account for 
it ; as I have seen as much difference in mankind, 
as there is between the angels of glory and the 
angels that fell. Thus the world has been a 
wonder to me all the days of my life ; but now it 
is revealed to me why this difference is in men, 
which causes all my wonder to cease. 



The following Letters, sent to the ministers at 
Exeter, I was ordered to take out of my writings, 
opened at the Neckinger, and lay them before the 
public. 



io 



A Letter, which I sent to the Rev. Mr. Pomerot/^ 
July 11 My 1796. 

Rev. Sir, 

I will now give you the meaning of the 
mystery I told you of, in as small a compass as pos- 
sible. You may think me simple in my manner; 
but the wisdom of God is foolishness ■ with man ; 
and the wisdom of man is foolishness with God : 
for as high as the heavens are from the earth, so 
are God's ways above man's ways, and his thoughts 
above man's thoughts; therefore we must become 
fools for Christ, if we will win souls to Christ, as 
counted fools* but making many wise in our fool- 
ishness, is the wisdom of God made manifest. 

You may remember that I told you, my Father's 
House was a Type of the Nation ; and in what man- 
ner I was sent to it, As I told you the particulars 
I need not enlarge, but come to the purpose. The 
Lord will cut short his work in righteousness, and 
make bare his arm on his holy mountain ; he will 
come as a refining fire, and as a fuller's soap ; he 
will go on conquering and to conquer, till he hath 
put all his enemies under his feet : every proud 
heart must become humble, and every lofty look 
become low; for the lion and the lamb must lie 
down together : and till this is accomplished there 
will be wars and righting among us. We are 
threatened with the sword, plague, and famine, 
that those who have shewed no mercy may have 
judgments without mercy : mercy is God's darling 
attribute, but judgments are his strange work : and 
strange are all his works here; for his wisdom is 
hid in the great deep, and his paths are past man's 
finding our. Be not faithless, but believe ; for the 
heavens are gathering blackness ; the thunder bolt 
of God's word is threatened us : the harvest of the 



11 

Lord is now approaching, and it is time for the 
ploughers to overtake the reapers, lest we say with 
the Jews of old, " The day is come, the harvest 
is ended, and we are not saved." The Spirit and 
the Bride say, come : let he that heareth say, come; 
for the end of all things is at hand. Let not men 
be mockers, lest their bands be made strong : for I 
have heard from the Lord God a consumption, even 
a determination upon the whole earth. 

Think not this Letter my inditing ; for it is not. 
The Lord grant that you may be a Moses in the 
gap, to make up the breach for the Children of Is- 
rael. I trust you will be a wrestling Jacob, till 
you become a prevailing Israel, to turn away the 
fierce anger of the Lord ; for it is already kindled ; 
for the cries of the poor have reached to heaven, 
and vengeance is threatened for the cruelty of man. 
All souls are mine, saith the Lord ; and all souls 
alike will fear, till judgment is turned into victory. 
"We are threatened with a fatal harvest: may the 
Lord in his mercies prevent these judgments ! There 
is no time to be idle : may we not perish through 
unbelief! I have stronger grounds to build on for 
my faith, and fear, than ever I told any man : the 
Lord is a God hearing and answering prayer. The 
Lord grant you may awake, as one out of sleep. 
"Awake, my Shepherd, saith the Lord, lest I 
kindle a fire in my anger, and a wrath in my fury 
that shall burn to the nethermost hell." But if ve 
awake, O Zion, and put on your beautiful garments, 
O Jerusalem; then shall your light break forth as 
the morning, and your righteousness appear as the 
noon-day sun; and God, even our God, will give 
us his blessing. 

These are the promises ; these are the threaten- 
ings. I am clear of the blood of all men. There 
is nothing covered, but shall be made manifest ; 
there is nothing hid, but will be made known : for 
what hath been done in the secret chamber will be 



12 
revealed on the house top. The night is far spent, 
the day is at hand, it is time to awake and be do- 
ing.— 

I remain, with the greatest respect, 
Your humble servant, 

Joanna Southcott. 

When the above letter was copied off, the fol- 
lowing answer was given me, which I added as a 
postscript to the letter : — 

" If by the wise men I am mocked now, 
Like Herod's fury I'll fulfil my vow ; 
And trembling now expect the coming stroke, 
Like Herod's fury, when the wise men mock'd." 

Rev. Sir, if you wish to know on what founda- 
tion I build, to write in this manner, I will conceal 
nothing from you. I have written as I was com- 
manded, and trust to your goodness to weigh it 
deeply ; for the Lord will be inquired of by the 
House of Israel. 



The following Letter was sent to the Rev. Mr 
Pomeroy, February, 1797- 

Rev. Sir, 

You said you could not believe that it was con- 
sistent with the wisdom of an all-wise God to 
foretel me the death of the Reverend Lord Bishop. 
In this you make good the Bible — I* the wisdom of 
God is foolishness with men :" but I must come 
to the purpose. Will you trust a person whose 
honour or fidelity you had never tried ? Would 
you entrust any one with a thousand pounds, that 
you had never tried with as many pence ? He 
that is faithless in that which is least, will never be 



13 

faithful in that which is most ; but he that is faith-* 
ful in that which is least, will be faithful in that 
which is most. Would it be consistent with the 
wisdom of God, to tell us wondrous things that 
were to come, when there was no appearance of 
them, and think we should give credit to them, 
before we had experienced the truth of his words 
in lesser matters ? No : therefore it might well be 
said that the wisdom of man is foolishness with 
God. True it is : for the wisdom of man could 
never prevail upon me, in ninety-two, to leave my 
work, and go to my sister, and write that what 
was revealed to me was coming upon the whole 
earth, had I not experienced before the truth of 
the Spirit in little things, — and greater things, that 
would take me many sheets of paper to repeat, 
the undeniable truths I was foretold by the Spirit, 
before ever I was told of prophecies, or a word of 
the kind reached my ears. One trifling thing I 
shall mention : I was told what was in the hearts 
and thoughts of men concerning me, and told the 
man I should go to, and he would own the truth. 
I did, and the man, to his astonishment, owned it 
was true. He is now in the city. But he said it 
was the devil told me of it; and the same he saith 
by my prophecies ; yet he owns he believes me to 
be a good woman. How inconsistent with reason 
to believe a good woman can always be conversing 
with the devil and perfect in obedience to all his 
commands ! Well might it be said in my writings 
— " I say, the heavens may sure smile here, to see 
the heads of men !" Do you believe that Abra- 
ham's faith would lead him to believe he should 
have a son in his old age, and after that to offer 
him up by the command of the Lord, if he had 
never experienced the truth of the Lord in many 
things which were never penned ? Would the 
Jews believe that they should be preserved in the 
flames, if they never proved the truth of the Lord 



14 

before, in things which were never left on record ? 
We know not in what manner the Lord strength- 
ens the faith of believers : faith is the gift of God, 
and not of man. 

Now I will come to another of your observations., 
You marvelled how I heard these things ; and why 
it was spoken in verse ; as you said, the prophets 
of old prophesied in plain words. I will answer. 
The reason assigned to me is, that the Bible was 
made by the Spirit of Inspiration, and it will be 
explained, as to the mysteries it contains, by the 
Spirit of Revelation, therefore is the last book 
called by that name. In the first chapter you men- 
tion is the truth now fulfilling, and deeply explain- 
ed in my writings. You will find the time draws 
near of the fulfilment; but as you fear to trust 
me, I cannot trust you with the meaning of all the 
mysteries explained. In theRevelations, it is said, 
" I am Alpha and Omega, the first and he last ;" 
then now consider what God made man at first : 
perfect in holiness, perfect in happiness; and, to do 
it at the last, he his about to accomplish it. — 

Now, Reverend Sir, I shall come to some more 
of your own words. You said that the Gospel of 
Christ was plain to be understood ; can you ex- 
plain all the meaning of our dear Redeemer's 
words ? He said he came not to destroy the Law 
of God or the Prophets, but to fulfil them : ic this 
generation shall not pass away till all is fulfilled." 
It is 1797 years agone, and all is not yet fulfill- 
ed. He said — " None is before nor after another; 
none is greater or less than another : but he that 
is greatest amongst you let him be your minister ; 
he that is chief amongst you shall be the servant to 
you all "— 

I remain, with the greatest respect, 
Your humble servant, 

JOANNA SOUTHCOTX 



15 



The following Letter was sent to the Rev, Mr, 
Pomeroy, February 20th 9 1797. 

Rev. Sir, 
With what words shall I begin to convince you 
that I am still ordered to trouble you with letters, 
till you are convinced it is the Lord's doing, and 
marvellous in your eyes ; but you will be ready to 
answer me, Cv ' unless I see, how can I believe ?" And 
you have offered to search out the truth and judge 
for yourself. I grant it — but I will answer you, 
as our Saviour did the leprous men, " were there 
not ten cleansed, but where are the nine ?" are 
there not six warned, but where are the five ? 

I have sent letters to four ministers, but recei- 
ved no answer from either. This confirms my 
writings, as well as the truth of all nations; as 
you may remember, the first time I spoke to you 
of the writings, in ninety-two, I told you that one 
of the visions was the fruit that was fallen from 
the trees; and I thought the Lord said to me, 
? take it up, and open the shells ; but thou shalt 
f 1 not taste of the fruit thereof: it is fallen ; it is 
not good." I opened it, and |it was like French 
nuts ; but they were dead and withered, and a 
black veil round them. I was ordered to look uo ; 
and I saw berries like potatoe berries. I was an- 
swered, " when that is ripe it will be good." I 
awaked with my dream, and it was answered — 
ic couldest thou look into the hearts of men, as 
I do ; thou wouldest see them as dead and wither- 
ed as the fruit ; for which reason the Lord will 
" visit the earth in his fierce anger/' Now I have 
been ordered to try the fruit ; and I find it like my 
dream; for the ministers I have sent to plainly 
shew, if I am going to the pit of destruction, by 
saying the Lord saith, when he hath not spoken, 



16 

a sin of the blackest dye, they will not give their- 
selves the trouble to convince me of my error : but 
if I had forged letters in the king's name, they 
would have been ready to search out the truth, by 
his command ; ready to obey, and punish me for 
so doing. Then are not our Saviour's words veri- 
fied ? — " Strict to observe the ordinance of men, 
i( and forget all the inward ordinance of God ; 
" doing despite to the Spirit of God; and saying we 
want not the knowledge of the Most High." But 
you will be ready to say, my pen is harsh in condemn- 
ing. Sir, I grant it; this is the measure they judge me 
by ; and so I shall measure it back again. — They 
have judged me unheard ; and I shall measure to 
them the same. This is the word of God. But 
I will ask pardon of the Rev. Chancellor Nut- 
combe; as I have not heard that he hath been in 
town since. I sent the letter ;* and having a careless 
servant, that acted strangely about the letter, I 
know not whether ever she sent it. You said 
that all the ministers were branches in Christ : to 
your words I am now answered — u ask him who 
did come to me that I refused to hear ; then how 
can they be branches in me ? Now see the 
mystery clear." Can you remember the words I 
read to you in Mrs. Taylor's house ? 



" Awake, my Shepherd, saith the Lord 

Once more I say awake ; 
Or all shall see the flaming sword, 

That I shall surely shake. 
For, like Jerusalem of old, 

Your shepherds are asleep ; 
The wolf may come and steal the fold, 

For they no watch do keep/' 



And is it not so now ? Then what have we to 
fear ? If there be any credit to be put in the 
newspapers, the truth of Italy is fulfilled already, 



17 

perfectly as it is sealed up in your hand: but I 
do not credit the report, and think it like putting 
the Reverend Lord Bishop Buller's death in the 
paper before he was dead, and the next week 
contradicted ; but it was true before the year 
ended. Just so do I believe it will be by Italy; 
but do not think the words are so soon fulfilled. 
But nothing will awaken the Ministers, till you 
are awakened to awaken them. I may as well 
write to stocks and stones as to them. I ask your 
pardon. A clear conscience cannot be condemn- 
ed. It grieves me to the heart, to see and hear 
how eager every serious mind and humble heart is 
to have the writings proved, and the carelessness 
and coldness of the ministers. I have troubled 
you with a long epistle ; but this I am ordered to 
do, that you may weigh every thing deeply ; and 
when you are convinced, awaken your brethren. 
I am sorry to be troublesome, but you will find 
there is cause enough. 

I remain, with the greatest respect, 

Your humble servant, 
Joanna Southcott. 



A Letter sent to the Rev. Mr. Pomeroy, December 
llth, 1797. 
Rev. Sir, 

That I might not be too troublesome to you, 
I have deferred sending to see you till the end of 
the year, that you might be a clear judge of the 
writings I sent to you in the Spring sealed up, as 
you doubted, like Thomas ; unless you saw you 
would not believe that all my writings were from 
the Lord ; then now I may say unto you, as our 
dear Redeemer did unto him, see and believe. 
In your own hands I put two seals, not to be 
broken but in the presence of ministers; the one 



IS 

in JTr/wtf S, 1796; the other in 1797. Thus hath 
the Lord dealt with you, as he did with Thomas, 
that in seeing you might see, and in hearing you 
might understand. When you see the seals broken, 
and the truth before your eyes, will you say, my 
Lord and my God has thus wisely done, to re- 
move your doubts ? or will you say it is the wis- 
dom of a simple woman; to foreknow what will 
come upon the earth? If the former, it is now 
high time to know what the Lord hath said, and 
what he hath spoken concerning us, that ye may 
not do despite to the Spirit of God, and say we 
want not the knowledge of the Most High ; if you 
judge the latter, bring forth your arguments, shew 
your strong reasons, why you believe the Lord 
will suffer a woman's words to come true, to say 
the Lord saith, when he hath not spoken, and 
seal up in his name what are his decrees concerning 
every nation upon earth. If I do these things of 
myself, my sins must be of the blackest dye : and 
will no minister search out the truth, to know 
whether it be right or wrong ? Does not this 
plainly prove that professors of religion are like 
the Laodiceans, neither hot nor cold, but luke- 
warm ? Can you blame the sheep for being dead 
hearers, while the shepherds are like the deaf 
adder, that stoppeth his ear and will not hearken 
to the voice of the charmer, charm he ever so 
wisely ? I have written to six ministers ; four 
have remained silent. This verifies the truth of 
my writings, as well as the truth of the nation ; 
as I was foretold before ever I sent you a letter, 
that they must be convinced by you; now I find 
it true, and marvellous in my eyes, how ministers 
can read the letters I have sent them and never 
concern theirselves whether it be true or not, but 
pass judgment on what they know not. Is it not 
written, the Lord will be clear when he judgeth? 
Then can man be clear, to judge a thing he is ig- 



19 
norant of? This neither the Law nor Gospel will 
allow ; yet so I find man. Therefore I must ap- 
peal to you ; for unto you it is given to know the 
mysteries ; but from them it is hid. 

I remain, with the greatest respect, 

Your humble servant, 

Joanna Southcott. 



A Letter sent to the Reverend Archdeacon Moore, 
June 19 th, 1798. 

Rev. Sir, 

You may be surprised to receive a letter 
from one that you have treated with scorn and 
contempt ; and were I to act in a spirit of my 
own, I should never trouble you more, but leave 
it to other ministers to search out the truth ; as I 
am ordered to go to Bristol, and publish the 
things that are hastening on. As you and the Rev. 
Chancellor Nutcombe have refused to hear me, to 
know what foundation I have for my faith and 
fears, I am now commanded to go to Bristol, 
and there make public the letters I have sent to 
you both. If you find your conduct blamed 
abroad, as it is at home, do not blame me, but 
blame yourselves ; for lam told, in my writings, 
that my being disobedient to the commands of 
the Lord will be more fatal than it was to Eve. 
If Paradise was lost by the woman's disobedience, 
it must be regained by her perfect obedience. 
It is explained to me in the following manner : 

" Man with his Maker may contend, 

As Adam did at first : 
I gave the woman unto him, 

And thereby came the curse ; 
Then sure my wisdom it must fail, 

If I can't find a way 
To change the wind, and turn the gale, 

And like the serpent lay 
B 2 



20 

Close to her breast, in me to trust, 

And so to free the score, 
And make the serpent lick the dust, 

And hell's infusion roar." 

Say no more, that the woman beguiled you, 
and ye did eat, and cast the blame on your Ma- 
ker, for the woman, when ye were ready to copy 
after her in disobedience ; but now she is brought 
to true obedience, ye will not copy one step after 
her. If you judge me a lost sheep, judge how 
many sheep are going astray after me, as the 
truth of my writings hath drawn many believers; 
and as every year fulfils my writings, so every 
day believers increase. The reason why I have 
troubled you with this letter is to let you know, 
if you find yourselves blamed by other ministers 
abroad, that you had not searched out the truths 
blame yourselves and not me ; for I assure you, I 
do not go in one step of my own. You may 
marvel, as Adam did, why the Lord had given 
him the woman, that caused his fall, and cast the 
blame on his Maker, for copying after her : and 
will you now cast the blame on your Maker, for 
chusing you to judge for yourself, and you refuse 
to obey ? Then bring forth your arguments, and 
shew your strong reasons, why you would not 
obey, if you judge it from the Lord ; and why 
you did not try to put a stop to it, if you judged 
it the disorder of a confused brain : 

For tainted blood will always spread, 

And tainted brains the same; 
If wrong disorder's in the head, 

You ought to stop the flame. 

Judge for yourself, that ye be not judged of 
the Lord : would you not blame a shepherd, to 
let his sheep be Lost for want of his care ? But 
now your care is too late for me ; by the time this 
reaches your hand, I hope to be in Bristol : and 
whatever is the effect of my going, as you never 



21 
tried to prevent it, you have no one to blame but 
yourself! Yet my soul feels for you, knowing 
the threatenings pronounced against the careless- 
ness of the ministers : for I shall conclude my 
letter with the words I put in the hands of the 
Rev. Mr. Pomeroy, in 1796. 

<c Is this the way my sheep are watch'd, 

Left to the shepherd's care ? 
The wolf to drag them in the pit, 

And left to perish there ? 
Then now my anger who could blame. 

If it should heat and burn, 
And, like the Gospel, say to all — 

To England 1 shall turn ?" 

The Gospel it was taken from was the chapter 
read in the Fast — " Think not these Galileans 
sinners above all, because they have done these 
things." I am sorry to trouble you with this 
letter ; but must leave it to your serious reflec- 
tion, now can you blame yourself, or me? 
I remain, with due respect, 

Your humble servant, 

Joanna Southcott. 



A Letter sent to the Rev Chancellor Nut combe, 
in 1799. 

Rev. Sir, 

You may be surprised to receive a letter 
from one you have judged too much beneath your 
notice to answer the former I sent you ; but as 1 
see mankind so bold with my character, as to say 
I am out of my senses, I must be bold to answer 
for myself, and intreat the favour of your proving 
your words ; not as a blind man judges of colours 
that they never see, or like the mad, confused 
world, that is throwing the law and gospel out 
of doors; and as they are filled with their own 
opinions, without knowing what they judge, 



22 
which neither the law of God or man will allow 
to convince mankind of this error, the Lord said 
I will go down and see whether these things are 
as they are come up before me. The Lord did 
not want wisdom to know, but it was spoken as 
a pattern for man to walk by. 

Therefore was it said of Mr. Pomeroy, two 
years before ever I sent him a letter, that the laws 
of the Lord were written on his heart ; and I will 
prove, in the presence of all the learned, that he 
hath acted thus far as though they were; which is 
an honour to the church ; for were it not for his 
conduct, all other religions would cry shame on 
the church, as Sir Egerton Lee did, who asked 
me if I had been writing in this manner for seven 
years, and not written to the ministers ? I said I 
had ; but they judged me out of my senses, and 
refused to answer my letters. He said, that was 
harsh judging, and unchristian- like : and had he 
the pleasure of knowing the gentlemen, he would 
wait on them himself; as he judged it a duty for 
ministers to prove by what Spirit I wrote ; and 
stop my hand, if not of God. Here his obser- 
vation is just ; and of the same opinions are all 
other religions, and condemn the church for not 
doing justice, to search out the truth ; as many 
judge it of God, and marvel how it came to pass, 
if not so; others judge it from the devil, and that 
chance makes it true; others judge it from my- 
self that have given up my mind more to learning 
than ever any minister upon earth did; but Sir 
Egerton did not judge so weakly; he knew it 
was too wonderful for a woman's head. 

Now, Sir, if you and the Rev. Archdeacon 
Moore will prove your Bibles true, and my wri- 
tings not of God, in the presence of two or three 
ministers, I will ask both your pardons in the 
public papers, as all is now made public, for 
troubling your honours with such letters ; but if 



£3 
you cannot, you must say, " the Lord hath chas- 
tised us, and we are chastised like bullocks unac- 
customed to the yoke ; we cannot answer one 
word of a thousand," — neither do I believe you 
can, out of ten thousand. 

Now, Sir, if you condemn my writings, when 
you have seen them, I will give up all to your su- 
perior judgment ; and wherein you will blame me, 
I will blame myself; but if you persevere to judge 
a cause unheard, and murder my character, which 
you do not know, by saying I am cut of my 
senses, marvel not if I persevere to clear my inno- 
cence, — 

For bold I see mankind with me, 

And I'll be bold with man ; 
You say my senses they are lost, 

Then prove that they are gone. 

Will you say as Felix did to Paul, too much 
learning made thee mad ? Then, like Paul, I an- 
swer—most noble Sir, I am not mad — and now I 
tell you what will in the end be the language of 
your hearts : 

" We judg'd her senses to be gone ; 

" But surely ours were lost : 
" 'Twas but the sand we built upon ; 

" 'Tis she the rock can boast." 

On what rock do you judge I build, to have 
my enemies to be my judges ? I must intreat an 
answer to this letter. 

From your humble servant, 

Joanna Southcott. 



A Letter sent to the Rev, Mr. Pomeroy, in De- 
cember, 1799. 

Rev. Sir, 

As I have received no answer from you, I 
suppose you mean to run the hazard of another year 



24 

if so, I mean to go abroad, which I was ordered 
not to do, till I received your answer ; and your 
silence is an answer, that you mean to see further 
events ; which I cannot blame in you, Sir. As I 
see and hear the ministers are so careless, that they 
do not concern theirselves to know whether the 
Lord hath spoken or not; but another year will- 
convince them, if the Lord hath spoken by me. 

I am now ordered to send to you a copy of the 
letter I put last spring in the hand of the Reverend 
Archdeacon Moore. As half is not yet fulfilled, 
you will see more of it in the 1800. I have sealed 
it up with three seals, as I sent it to him ; but it 
is copied out as you can read it : but I must beg 
the favour of you, Sir, not to break the seals till 
the end of the year, unless you judge it prudent 
to shew it to the Archdeacon Moore. 

I have sent in some of my letters what is hasten- 
ing on the ensuing year, as unbelief is so likely to 
abound. I must beg the favour of you to take 
care of all my letters ; for you will find it the 
Lord's doing, however marvellous it may appear 
in your eyes. If I stay two years, as Mr. Taylor 
hath engaged for me by that time, I believe the 
writings I have put in your hands will truly con- 
vince you it is of God, and no enthusidsm of a 
disordered brain : for now mockers are begun, and 
they will bring down the judgments that are 
threatened. So let no man complain of the times ; 
but let all men consider that they have been mock- 
ers: and our bands are made strong; the judg- 
ments of the Lord will be carried into victory over 
us. 

I have sent yGU these letters, as I was ordered to 
send to you the copy of the other ; and if you 
judge prudent to wait longer, you must have the 
truth in your own hand, to see it plain if it be of 
God. 
I hope I shall not be called to trouble you any 



25 

more till one year is past ; and if not till the expi- 
ration of one year, I know strange events must 
take place, before men will believe the strange 
things that are said in my writings, so very differ- 
ent from all men's opinions upon earth : as they 
judge that the second coming of Christ is the day 
of judgment; but it is said to me, it will be a 
thousand years and more before that time ; that 
Christ will come in the power of his spirit to dwell 
in the hearts of his believers ; and all unbelievers 
will fall with their master: and these days are 
drawing nigh at hand ; but, till ye see signs and 
wonders, ye will not believe. I must conclude 
with saying I am sorry to see the unbelief of man- 
kind : we know not what a day may bring forth. 
I remain, with the greatest respect, 
Your humble servant, 

Joanna Southcott. 



A Letter sent to the Rev. Mr. Pomeroy, December 
3d, 1799. 

Key. Sir, 

Some of your questions I must beg leave to 
answer. You asked, if I judged myself so great 
a favourite of heaven, as to think the Lord had 
sent a curse over the land, because men had des- 
pised my writings. To this I answer, not for my 
sake, but for his great name's sake, to prove the 
truth of what he had spoken and threatened. If 
things are of God, he is as good as his word. No 
man hath despised me, but my writings it is that 
they have despised ; and if they came from God, 
it is to his Spirit they have done this despite. 

But you say, Sir, the working of miracles fol- 
lows prophecies. Here are our Saviour's words 
verified — " Faithless generation, unless ye see 
signs and wonders, ye will not believe !" Then 
come to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and 



26 

ye shall see greater miracles than was wrought in 
Cana, at the marriage there ; for the water shall 
he made more than wine. 

You say, Sir, you fear I shall not resign to the 
judgment of men, if they condemn my writings : 
I should say they were out in their judgment, as 
my writings came true. To this I answer, if men 
meet according as I am directed to have them, 
and then condemn my writings, that they are not 
of God ; they cannot be true ; for I am promised 
that the Spirit of the Lord shall be poured out 
upon them, and that the candle of the Lord shall 
shine bright amongst them : then shall the light 
break forth as the morning, and the truth be as 
clear as the noon-day sun ; for then will the Lord 
shame all that have shamed me, and confound all 
that confounded me. 

God is not slack concerning his promise; so I 
will rely on his word, and resign to the wisdom of 
men, when they meet, as the Lord has appointed. 
To the judgment of twelve I will give up the 
whole; but not to eleven ; for I as much believe 
my writings are of God, as I do the Bible: and 
eleven men cannot convince me to think other- 
wise ; but twelve men will, if they meet together, 
and say they do not think it is of God ; and that 
I am certain will never be the case. I am ready 
to meet any ministers, and tell them what strong- 
reasons I have for this unshaken faith. 

You say, the Lord never acts inconsistently 
with himself. Sir, I grant it : and in all my wri- 
tings he hath spoken more consistently with his 
wisdom, goodness, mercy, and truth, than ever 
I heard any man judge him in my life. And now 
I am ready to stand the trial, and prove the truth 
of what I say, or wait the event of another year; 
but that I am ordered to give up to your superior 
judgment. 

I must conclude with saying I believe my wri- 



27 
tings came from the Lord ; and he hath fixed for 
me a Judge and Jury ; and so will I submit to be 
tried ; and till I am condemned by them, I shall 
judge myself an innocent woman, greatly wound- 
ed in the house of my friends. I am sorry to 
trouble you with so long an epistle ; but I am or^ 
dered to answer all your objections, and could 
not do it in a smaller compass. 

I am, with the greatest respect, 

Your humble servant, 

Joanna Southcot^. 



Another Letter sent to the Rev. Mr. Pomeroy, 
March Z3d, 1800. 

Rev. Sir, 

You may be surprised to receive a letter 
from me, after saying in my last letter, that I 
meant to go abroad for two years, if my writings 
were not now proved. But what man appoints 
God disappoints ; I find I cannot go one step, in 
"myself, to do any thing ; I must stay to see the 
event of what I have written. And what, shall I 
see nothing but sorrow surround me on every 
side ? Already I hear the cries of the poor, com- 
plaining they are starving to death, for want of 
food. It is almost incredible to believe they can 
keep life in the manner they now live : every sta- 
tion of men are full of complaints, unless it be 
the rich and great : and when will these sorrows 
have an end? I am told, never; till ministers do 
awake, as men out of sleep, to search out the 
cause ; which I am told, in my writings, is men's 
unbelief of what I have written ; and ministers' 
neglect of not trying the Spirit, whether it came 
from God, or not. If men will not try the Spirit, 
God will prove the Spirit, by sending a heavier 
curse on the land, than is ajready sent. Severe 



1 2$ 
are the threatenings pronounced to me against 
mankind, as they so readily copied after the wo- 
man, in eating the forbidden fruit, when the Lord 
commanded that man should not; and now that 
the Lord hath commanded them to try the Spirit, 
whether it be of God, or not, they refuse to 
obey; and are not God's threatenings just ? 
and will not his punishments be severe, if man 
will run contrary to all his commandments ?■ I 
may say unto you, as Naaman's servant said unto 
him — " If the Lord had commanded him to do 
some great thing, would he not have done it?" 
And would you, Sir, not do a greater thing than 
is required of you, if you could stay the judg- 
ments that are already begun, sooner than run 
the hazard of having them come heavier over the 
land ? Which I was told, on the Fast day, no 
prayers should stay the judgments of the Lord 
from coming heavier upon us, till the writings 
Were proved. But I know you will be ready to 
say, you cannot prove them by yourself; and you 
may argue, hath the Lord chosen ministers that 
will not obey his call ? I answer — "the Lord hath 
called, and no man answered ; he hath stretched 
out his hand to a disobedient and gainsaying 
people : Israel do not know, my people do not 
consider, who it is that calleth, saith the Lord." 
But you said, Sir, I remember, in your pulpit, 
that there were fifty righteous men in the Land ; 
now you are at liberty to gain ten of them, or 
five ; and I will gain the other ; and let the truth 
be tried. If you cannot, then say no more that 
there are fifty righteous men, if you cannot gain 
five to come forward in so deep and weighty an 
affair. For I now say unto you, as I did in a 
letter a few weeks ago to the Rev. Mr. Tucker, I 
now speak boldly, and affirm, if I do not write 
by the Spirit of God ; no man ever did, since 
earth's foundation was placed : the same Spirit 



29 

that inspired them to write the Bible, in the be- 
ginning, hath inspired me to fulfil it, in these last 
days, beyond the reach of human learning : I am 
lost in wonder, how it is possible that ministers- 
are silent to such letters as I have sent them. In 
my letter to the Rev. Mr. Tucker I called them 
fools and slow of heart, to judge that a woman 
had done all this of herself, and they not put her 
to silence ; yet no man asketh me by what autho- 
rity I do these things; if they did, I am ready 
to answer. — 

I must entreat your answer by the bearer, a 
woman whose honour you may depend upon, and 
will faithfully speak the truth of what you should 
think proper to send, whether you judge it pru- 
dent to run the hazard of another harvest ; if so, 
great I fear will be the murmuring in our land. 
I am, with the greatest respect, 

Your humble servant, 

Joanna Southcott. 

The answer that Mr. Pomeroy returned to this 
letter was, that my senses were deranged, and 
that I wrote blasphemy. 



To Mr. Pomeroy \s answer I sent the following 
Letter, March 25 th, 1800. 

Rev. Sir, 

I am sorry to be so troublesome to your 
honour, as I own I have been ; and were there a 
possibility of my believing there is a God that 
can deal with his creatures as you think, 1 may 
be deceived in whom I have believed, and judge 
my writings ; as Sir Egerton Lee did, from the 
powers of darkness. But as you say men have 
refused to be my judges in so deep and weighty 
affair, I must beg the liberty to judge for my* 
self. 

You say, Sir, that my seuses are deranged, or 
I should never keep on writing so. To this I an- 



30 
swer— - were Noah's senses deranged in warning 
the antediluvian world of their destruction, so 
many years before it came, and build the ark 
while they judged him an old fool for doing it ? I 
may write of the long contentions of all the pro- 
phets ; and how they were judged, and what be- 
jel their judges ; but all this you know already. 

I must now come to the purpose; you told 
Mrs. Boucher that I wrote blasphemy. I must 
entreat the favour, Sir, that you will be so kind 
as to tell her wherein I wrote blasphemy ; and I 
am ready to answer for myself.— Yet I own it is 
generous and kind in you to say it, if you thought 
sa; but my soul shudders at the thought, and 
much more of the act. I must beg to answer for 
myself, that there is not one, I believe, upon 
earth, wh© hath higher thoughts of the Holy 
Trinity than I have ; and before I can judge them 
as low as I find mankind do, I must firmly be- 
lieve the Bible is as strong enthusiasm as men 
judge my writings. Do mankind judge the Lord 
another such as theirselves ? If so, . they may 
judge me a good, mistaken woman, that have 
spent my time in fasting and prayers, to know the 
will of the Lord and obey it — and hath the Lord 
heard my prayers in silence, as the ministers re- 
ceive my letters, and, when they broke silence, 
returned their answers in anger? But can I judge 
my Maker so ? God forbid : the Lord judge be- 
tween man and me. 

I require no favour of any man, but to tell me 
faithfully, as ministers of the Lord, what Spirit 
they thought hath so powerfully visited me, for 
eight years past. This petition they refuse : but 
their words, like swords, go through my soul ; 
and I may say, with the prophet of old, " My 
heart is broken, and all my bones shake." I own, 
the ill treatment I have met with from men, is 
enough to make me deranged in my senses : and 
did I think I should receive such from the Lord, 



31 

I should say with Job, " Oh that my days were 
to an end !" and with the prophet of old, " Cur- 
sed be the day wherein I was born !" But I still 
hope to meet with a wiser judge than man ; one 
that is clear when he judge th, that he may be 
just if he condemneth. 

I return you thanks, Sir, for all the trouble 
you have taken on my account. I do not con- 
demn the innocent with the guilty. I must own, 
you have acted, in every principle, as a minister 
who wishes to give just and true judgment, to 
prove the spirit, and try it. You have owned 
you were ready ; and had other ministers done 
the same, my sorrows would have been at an end; 
but now T fear they will continue till I go down 
to the cold chambers of the grave, which my 
soul longs for, in hopes of meeting a better and 
a juster judge than man. 

I am not ignorant of what I am doing; I do 
not marvel at the times, that our land is so bowed 
down with sorrow and distress on every side, seeing 
the unfeeling hearts of the ministers, to know 
there must be some cause, unknown to them, that 
hath laid so heavy a burthen on the land, and upon 
my mind and heart ; and they will not give their- 
selves one hour's time nor trouble, to search out 
the cause and free the load that lies so heavy on 
my spirits. I may say with David, " Lord what 
is man, that thou regardest him ! Could I be clear 
that my writings were not from God, I would 
never take my pen in hand to write more on that 
subject; and what I have already written I would 
commit to the flames. But my soul trembleth at 
the severe threatenings against myself, if I am 
disobedient to the heavenly calling: I must sin 
against light and knowledge. 

I must conclude with saying, that I do not wish 
you, Sir, to trouble ministers any more on my ac- 
count; I find I must bear my own burthen, till 



32 

the Lord is pleased to take the cause in his own 
hand, and undertake for me. 

I must beg the favour of you, Sir, to send by 
the bearer, wherein you judge I have written blas- 
phemy ; for the Lord is my judge, at whose judg- 
ment-seat I wish to appear, sooner than the judg- 
ment-seat of men : for I see, man is but man; 
but the judge of all the earth will judge right; so 
I wish to fall into the hands of God, for great are 
his mercies; but let me not fall into the hands of 
men, in whom I find no mercy, justice, nor 
equity ; but unjust judgment, judging as blind 
men do of colours— ^but what they know not now, 
they will know hereafter. 

I remain, with the greatest respect, 

Your humble servant, 

Joanna Southcott* 

When I had ended the above letter, I was thus 
answered by the Spirit : 

" Now thou hast ended thy letter, be thou 
comforted ; 1 will not leave thee comfortless. I 
said his answer would determine the harvest, and 
perfectly so shall it come, as I shall shew thee in 
the night. Thou hast appealed to the judge of 
quick and dead ; as man hath refused to judge for 
thee, thou must be a judge for thyself. This har- 
vest is to determine thy judgment, that I am not 
a man to hear in silence, neither will I return thy 
petitions in anger. This harvest shall come per- 
fectly like thy dream : the floor shall be scanty, 
that shall break down the hearts of men, if thy 
writings are not proved before the time. If they 
are, I will fill your barns with increase. It is not 
for thee to know whether they will or not." 

The writings were not proved before the har- 
vest ; and it followed bad, as it was threatened ; 
and was burnt up by the suu according to the 
threatenings ; and when the writings went out the 
following year, then the three good harvests fol- 
lowed as promised. 



ss 

A Communication given in 1801, in answer to 
the different Seals which the writings were sealed 
up with 

u As different seals do now appear, 

So different names I'll join them here; 

And all shall find the marriage true, 

By every seal brought to your view. 

So let the learned judge the seals, 

And then the mystery Til reveal ; 

For when the King's Seal doth appear. 

It proves to man his words are there ; 

And here they'll find my seals are come— 

And judge it by the woman's handj 

That is more plain than any ring, 

Such writings from her hand to bring ; 

Though all her lovers tried in vain, 

Her hand nor heart could ne'er obtain ; 

The Serpent, twisted with the Dove, 

Thought by such arts her heart to move; 

The Lion and the Lamb appear'd, 

To see if they her heart could share; 

The ravenous Wolf and beasts of prey 

Agreed to draw her heart astray ; 

The Vulture and the poisonous Snake 

Judg'd they could make her heart to shake ; 

And there's no poisonous beast of prey 

But hath been lurking in the way, 

For to draw back her steady heart, 

And tried to level there his dart. 

But all these arts have proved in vain ; 

7 Tis I alone her heart could gain, 

And prove the victory is the more, 

As others tried her heart to share. 

Then who shall pluck her from my hand ? 

Let men and devils silent stand, 

And tell me if it is not true — 

And all your words bring to your view ; 

Then all must cry, " we're guilty here; 

" We know we tried her heart to share ; 

" Or else, to foil her in the way, 

" By every thought to gain the day." 

So here the simple sons of men 

Thought with her Maker to contend ; 

And they as well might climb to heaven ; 

For now they've tried by words were given j 

But all their speeches I'll confound, 

And all their towers I'll soon throw down, 



And give this challenge unto men ; 

And then their towers I'll own shall standi 

Let twelve together now appear, 

And meet my chosen Shepherd here; 

And of one mind let all agree y 

And prove from hell thy writings be; 

Then I to man will give it up, 

If there's twelve shepherds thus should drop^ 

But if their speech be divided there, 

And all their words alike don't bear.; 

Then all their towers must sure fall down, 

If they do vary in the sound: 

And some will say it can't be from hell — ► > 

" We sooner judge it from herself." 

Then sure their building won't agree ; 

For unwise judges they must be, 

'to think that e'er a woman's head 

Such curious buildings ever laid, 

As is as far beyond thy power, 

As 'twas for them to build the tower. 

Then will they answer, it came from man t 

I ask them how their tower will stand, 

When not one word he can make good £ 

I'll soon confound, if this be said ; 

But if together they'll agree, 

To say, " we'll build another way, 

41 And all agree it came from heaven ; 

" To build our towers, can this be given, 

" For us to climb so very high, 

" And make our wisdom reach the sky. w 

Yes, there in wisdom you may boast. 

And make the serpent lick the dust, 

When you have prov'd your judgment clear^ 

That others may not foil you here. 

So for the present this I'll end : 

In print let all these lines be penn'd; 

For I will try the heads of men, 

And see what knowledge is in them; 

And if there's any I discern, 

My knowledge he will' soon pull down ; 

For though the good fruit hung so high, 

The knowledge sure was on the tree; 

And as the woman pluck'd it first, 

That way the Serpent must be cast, 

When I hand down the better food, 

Then she must give you what is good/' — ■ 

The following communication was given upon 
iny going to Bristol. Mrs. Taylor wished me not 



35 
to go, but I told her I must go ; and then they 
did every thing in their power to make me com- 
fortable ; to which I was answered — 

'*' The words from thee was spoke by me— 

I will not stay thy hand : 
I tell thee there's a mystery 

You easy can't command. 
Like Taylor's care, they'll find m e near ; 

So careful will I be ; 
I'll speak to all ; for so't shall fall, 

And they'll take care of thee. 
For in my hands I all hearts command, 

And every heart I'll turn ; 
Mark thou this day, to thee I say, 

The father and the son ; 
The one did go the cost to know, 

The other said he'd speak 
Unto the man to take thee in — 

The mystery there is great. 

'* So Taylor here shan't lose his care ; 

For him I'll do the same ; 
'Tis done to thee, and now to me ; 

Then let my Gospel come. 

" But 1*11 end here, and say no more — 

But answer instantly, 
The words by Dingels spoken there, 

That was admired by thee : 
Thy steady faith, as Dingels saith, 

Will be admired by all, 
When men do see the mystery ; 

For down the sands must fall. 
The rock is come, it will be known : 

For on it thou dost build ; 
No storms or tempests can make fall— 

'Tis men their faith do spill ; 
They did at first, and now at last — ■ 

The woman foil'd you all ; 
But when you see the mystery. 

Then judge of Adam's call : 
Naked did he appear to be, 

And hid his face away ; 
I told him there for to appear, 

But what did Adam say ? 
" Naked I am," — behold the mail; 

Then cast your shame aside j 
For I'll appear to answer here— 

The field is open wide. 
€2 



36 

Because you'll see the mystery,* 

How naked all will come ; 
Stripp'd of their clothing they will be,. 

That cover'd them so long. 
Their wisdom great their pride did hea% 

Their knowledge they did boast ; 
But when I come to rescue men, 

Their clothing will be lost. 
Then naked here they will appear, 

But shame must pass away j 
The joyful news, that all will hear, 

Will make them boldly say — 
The woman, see, 'tis done by she ; 

Let her accusers come, 
Then they'll find none to cast a stone,. 

But own 'tis wisely done ; 
Beyond the skill of Satan's wheel,. 

Beyond the heads of men, 
A thing to clear so perfect here, 

Where shame can never come, 
*Tis noisM abroad, to all be't know'd,. 

But few men do believe. 
Could'st they but see the mystery, 

They'd find another Eve 
Shall now regain : — was Abel slain ? 

Did I for man atone? 
The woman's form must now be knows 

For to redeem her own. 
But I'll appear to tell thee here 

It is not done by thee ; 
The power of man would overcome: 

And thou a coward be, 
Did I not hold and now unfold, 

To make thy anchor strong ; 
Thy sands they'd see like mans to be, 

And thou would'st tumble down. 

" So praise no more thy courage here, 

Thy persevering faith ; 
'Tis I'm in thee, they all will see, 

Or surely„ like the rest, 
Thy faith would fall, be it known to al-l^. 

When I let go my hand. 
I bid thee for t© own to all 

How trembling thou didst stand, 
So near the brink thou'dst often sink ;. 

And wilt thou boast like man ? 
Thou answer'st, no : if I let go, 

Thou hast no power to stand," 



37 



The following are copies of additional letters 
sent to the Morning Herald. 

Another Address to the Public, from Joanna 
Southcott. 

AS I have been informed, that applications 
were made to the bookseller for the book alluded 
to in the " Warning to the Bishops," inserted in 
the paper of Tuesday, Nov. 9, and that they ex- 
pected the book to have been of the same title; 
therefore I take this method of informing the 
public, that it is " The Second' Book of Won- 
ders" which is alluded to, that the Bishops are 
applied to, for to judge between the Rev. Mr. 
Pomeroy and me, from the letters which passed 
between us, in 1804. See 3 1st page. 

When a methodist was informed of my being 
confined from seeing any of my friends till my 
trial, his answer was, that I had now fixed my- 
self ; as I might be confined for a hundred years, 
if I lived so long. 

Another man laughed on reading the " Warn- 
ing to the Bishops," and said, if he had the 
Bishop of Durham's place, he would not regard 
my threatenings. 

When I heard these things, I reflected upon 
the conduct of mankind, and I thought that I 
might say with David, — " Lord, what is man, 
that thou art mindful of him !" I may say, near 
forty years my spirits have been greatly wounded 
and grieved by the perverse hearts of men ; pro-, 
fessors as well as profane ; for, if I look at the 
conduct of the boasters of religion, I have not 
found one man among a thousand, who profess to 
be Gospel preachers, that have proved themselves 
Gospel believers. 



38 
" So now I plainly see the hearts of men, in 
chequered lines, lie open unto me." 

To my thoughts I was answered, that the Lord 
hath been provoked with man in the same man- 
ner ; and found it a crooked and perverse gene- 
ration, that did not know the ways of the Lord ; 
therefore, he would say of this nation, as he said 
of the Jews of old, that they should never enter 
into his promised rest, if they waited until the 
forty years, mentioned by me, were up ; which 
will be next April, 1814. Therefore I am an- 
swered, that this is the Day of Salvation, if they 
will hear his voice : they must not harden their 
hearts, as in the days of temptation in the wil- 
derness. " But now is the accepted time ; now 
is the day of salvation : if they turn unto the 
Lord, he will have mercy upon them ; and to the 
Most High God, for he will abundantly pardon 
them." — " The King's business requireth haste: 
for a quick work will the Lord do upon the 
earth. This is my strict command to thee, that 
my answer to their words must be put in the 
newspaper, that I may be clear from the blood of 
all men. Let the newspapers be kept ; for they 
will all find the Prophecies true— for blessings, 
or judgments, according as men now act ; fori 
shall trifle with man no longer; neither bear 
with their putting it off to a future time." — This 
OS the answer of the Lord,. 

Joanna Southcott, 
Monday, Nov. 15, 1813. 



The following very extraordinary article was 
received yesterday, with a request for its imme- 
diate insertion in our paper : — 



39 

jl fourth Letter of Prophecy, by Joanna South- 

cott. 

TO THE PUBLIC AT LARGE, 

My former Letters of Warning have roused va- 
rious passions in men, and some public com- 
ments. Among the latter I shall notice a letter in 
the Stourbridge paper of the 12th instant, signed 
Ephraim, wherein he advises me to " make a 
friend of his Satanic Majesty ; as he may lay his 
frightful paw upon me f therefore he advises me 
to " court his favour — speak kindly of him ; for 
it is good to have a friend wherever we go." 

I shall answer him from the words of Solomon 
— •" A foot's bolt is soon shot; the soul of the 
wicked desireth evil ; and wisdom is too high for 
afoot." But he who thinks to find a friend in 
the devil will find himself deceived. I put no 
trust in man ; then I certainly shall not put trust 
in the devil, who hath used his utmost endeavours 
to work in the hearts of men against me : and 
formed himself in men, to cast out floods of lies 
against me. I have not built upon such sandy 
foundation. Though the world laugh at my 
weakness, to believe that the Bishops will give 
themselves the trouble of coming forward and 
pass their judgment as required; I put no more 
trust in the Bishops, as men, than I do in their 
chariots or horses ; but my trust is in the Lord 
of Hosts, who saith to the proud waves of the 
sea — Hitherto shalt thou go, and no further : who 
can say to the south, give up ; and to the north, 
keep not back : who can make his people willing, 
in the day of his power. This is the faith that 
I rely upon — the rock of ages, and the God of my 
salvation — that the gates of hell cannot prevail 
against ; and this is the faith that our Saviour. 



40 
said, in his Gospel, was like the wise man, build- 
ing* his house upon the rock, that the rain des- 
cended, and the floods came, and the winds blew 
and beat upon that house, and it fell not ; for it 
was founded upon the rock : and this is the rock, 
which I have built upon : and therefore my house 
will not fall ; but those who have built like this 
foolish man, will find their houses to be built on 
the sand ; and great will.be the fall thereof. 

This is my answer to the newspaper — to let 
them know, that my trust is neither in men nor 
devils ; but in the Lord, whose knowledge and 
peace are past man's understanding. 

And now I am ordered to put in the news- 
paper a part of a Prophecy given to me yester- 
day, for the public at large :— 

" I tell thee, that the ensuing year will be such 
a year as never was seen in England, since it was 
a nation ; for, if my commands are obeyed, that 
I send blessings to the nation, such as were never 
experienced before ; yet Satan's weapons will 
be strong, with rage and fury, to fight in men, 
till, like Sodom and Gomorrah, they will be 
destroyed, and swept away with the besom of 
destruction. But, from the days of Noah, there 
is a longer warning, to awaken those who are 
not so strongly filled with the devil against my 
coming to bring in my kingdom of righteousness 
and peace. Thy faith is given to thee as a gift 
of God, which the world can neither give thee, 
nor take it from thee : and they will find that the 
sound of thy Master's feet is behind thee." — This 
is the answer of the Lord to me. 

Joanna Southcott, 

Friday, Nov. 19, 181S 



41 

Letters of Prophecy, by Joanna Southcott, 

LETTER V. 

Though the Bishops are silent to the request 
made of them, and the warning given them, that 
they will not come forward to support the work, 
if it he of GOD, or to confute it, if not; yet I am 
informed that one of the Bishops hath said, that 
I have done more mischief than ever an individual 
had done before. 

I can scarcely credit the report to be true, that 
a Bishop should see it in this light, and not use 
his authority to stop the " mischief," when the 
power is put into his hands. 

I shall answer such Bishops, as the King's 
Jester once answered him. When a nobleman sent 
a petition to his majesty, to crave his pardon for a 
third murder he had committed, the king said to 
his jester, " I know not what to do concerning 
this man : he hath killed two men before, which I 
pardoned him for, and now he hath killed the 
third." The jester answerer], '< No, he has not 
Jailed three men; he has killed but one." His 
majesty asked him how he could make out that. 
The jester said, " if thou hadst had him hanged 
for the first man, he would never have killed ano- 
ther ; so thou hast killed the other two. " Ah!" 
said the king, " dost thou say so ? then he shall 
never kill another." — To this I was answered — 

" Now let the bishop be as wise as the king, 
or out of his own mouth will I condemn him; if 
he sees this mischief going on, and doth not stir 
to prevent it, when I have put it in his power, and 
he judge it is from the devil, he will find my anger 
kindled against him, if he still lets it go on. Will 
they surfer sin of the blackest dye to go on, and 
never stir one step to stop the torrent of this evil? 



42 

Then let them know that my judgments are just, 
to cut them off, as cumberers of the ground. If 
all should speak as thou hast heard of one, then 
out of their own mouths will I condemn them all : 
for they shall -find that thou art in perfect obedi- 
ence to my commands. And will they call this 
mischief? Then let them know my commands, 
which stand on record — be clear in judging that 
you may be just in condemning. And now to 
their consciences thou must appeal, whether they 
think it be right to see mischief spreading through- 
out the land, and they standing silent to have -it 
so, when it is put in their power to prevent it ? 
For, on one side or other the sin must be great ; 
because they must know, if thy visitation be from 
the Lord, and they call it mischief in thee to obey 
my commands ; then their sins must be great, for 
condemning my love in warning them of my 
coming to establish peace and righteousness on 
the earth. If this be despised, let them own the 
justice of my anger and indignation at the blas- 
phemy that is daily spoken against my visitation. 

" And this is my command to the bishops, if 
they wish to find favour in my sight, as I have in^ 
vested them with power, and commanded thee to 
appeal to them, let them exercise that power I 
have put in their hands. This is my command to 
thee, that thou put my answer in the newspaper, 
that they may see the justice of my threatenings, 
if all be treated with silent contempt." — This is 
the answer of the Lord to me." 

Joanna Southcott. 

Letters of Prophecy, by Joanna Southcott. 

LETTER VI. 

Mr. Editor, — I notice in your paper of the 
26th instant, an answer to my letter on the 20th, 
Respecting my faith, by a writer, under the signa- 



43 
tureof " A Methodist," who expresses himself tq 
be the true Ephraim, wishing for instruction, and 
desirous of knowing whether my pretensions be 
a vain boasting of faith, upheld by applying the 
Scriptures to myself, or whether it be grounded 
on the Rock of Ages. 

These inquiries are just, therefore I shall an- 
swer a wise man according to his wisdom. I 
shall first say, as our Saviour did to John the Bap- 
tist, when he sent his disciples to know if he were 
the Christ. He said, go your way and tell John 
what things ye have seen and heard ; and in like 
manner my answer is to Ephraim, that I have ex- 
perienced the truth of the spirit, which visits me 
from the year ninety-two to this day, of both pri 
vate and public events, concerning this nation and 
the surrounding nations; and these prophecies 
were first put into the hands of ministers from the 
year 1796 to J 800, for them to be witnesses of the 
truth being foretold. In the year 1801, 1 publish- 
ed to the world at large. In 1802, during the 
time of peace, I published what was hastening on, 
of the war that hath since taken place. And I 
can prove from rny writings, how these events 
were foretold, when there was no appearance of 
them. Therefore I may say with the woman of 
Samaria, behold the man that told me all things : 
tell me, is not this the Christ, who hath thus far 
fulfilled his words, in the past, and now given me 
strength of faith to insert prophecies in the public 
papers, of what shall happen in one year, accord- 
ing as men obey or disobey what is required of 
them? If they cannot judge from the past, they 
may judge from what is to come; therefore mine 
is no boasting faith, without knowing in whom I 
have believed, but a faith fixed on the Rock of 
Ages, with strong and sure ground to rely on, that 
no one knoweth of but myself. The world must 
judge me worse than mad, to insert such things 



44 

in the newspapers, if 1 had not a full assurance 
that what the Lord hath said he wit! fulfil. I 
have shewn my faith by my works, and the gates 
of hell cannot prevail against me. 

Now I shall notice another observation made 
by " A Methodist," where he says—" Would to 
heaven that myself and my brethren were invested 
with the authority, of the bishops, and we would 
soon search out the truth." To this I am answer- 
. ed — 

" Let him try his brethren, and he will find 
them like David's brethren, to condemn the pride 
of his heart; and like Ephraim, the pride of 
Israel to testify to his face : for they do not return 
to the Lord their God, nor seek him for ail this-: 
therefore, if he puts his trust in man,' he will soon 
become like Ephraim, a silly dove without a 
heart; if he doth not put his trust in the Lord, 
and say with David, there is cause enough, (for 
he knoweth not what man is,) his brethren, like 
strangers, will devour his strength; therefore no 
trust can be put in man. But, if he be the true 
Ephraim, he wilt now apply himself to wisdom, 
and get understanding, and see that it is time to 
sow to yourselves in righteousness, to reap in 
mercy: break up your fallow ground, for it is 
time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain 
righteousness upon you; then I will not return to 
destroy Ephraim, for I am God, and not man, the 
Holy One in the midst of thee." 

This is a prophecy given me for the true Eph- 
raim, who wishes to be clear in judging, before he 
condemns* 

Joanna Southcott. 

Tuesday, Nov. 30 3 1813. 

The following was sent to the Morning Herald, 
but the Editor objected to its, being inserted, 



45 



Letters of Prophecy, by Joanna Sou thee it. 

LETTER VII. 

The following are the words of the Lord re* 
specting the conduct of the Bishops. 

" Two months thou hast been warning the 
Bishops ; once by the private letter and book ; 
to which they were silent ; then I ordered thee 
to w r arn them in the public newspapers, and gave 
them liberty to come to thee ; or they might have 
sent to Pomeroy, and ordered him to come to thee, 
to convince thee that thy visitation was wrong, if 
the language of his heart was different from what 
thou hadst been informed of by me ; as then to 
his judgment thou must have given up ; for this 
power I put in their hands. But, as they have 
refused either to come to thee, to judge for 
theirselves, or to send for him to decide the 
cause ; I now tell thee, my appointed time is up ; 
and my strict command is now to thee to call 
Pomeroy forward, to answer, between God and his 
own conscience, whether the words are true or 
not, that I told thee concerning him. For, as he 
said that the Lord would bring thee into judg- 
ment for injuring his character, he shall know it 
is I the Lord who bringeth him. into judgment, to 
judge between the wisdom of man and the wis- 
dom of the Lord. Know, he said it was through 
the persecution and persuasions of men that h$ 
was made to destroy the letters which I ordered 
thee to put in his hands. Then now let him look 
to the words of the Apostle. 1 Cor. i. 19. — " For 
it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the 
wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of 
the prudent. The world by wisdom knoweth not 
God." He hath followed the wisdom of the 
world ; thou hast rejected the wisdom of the 
world, to follow on to know the -Lord: thea 



know it is written, Ye shall know the Lord, if ye 
follow on to know him. And now, by the dif- 
ferent conduct of you two, shall the truth of this 
Scripture be established; to stand or fall. There- 
fore my answer must go into the public paper, 
that, as the Bishops have refused to come for- 
ward to be any judges of my visitation to thee, 
as it was required, so I now forbid them all from 
coming to thee, till thou hast had Pomeroy's an- 
swer. For it must now be decided between him 
and thee alone ; and when thou hast made every 
thing clear before him ; then let him pass his 
final judgment. And if he then say it is from 
the devil ; then to his judgment thou shalt give 
up thy cause ; and ask his pardon in the public 
paper, for disgracing his character, if he can 
prove that thou art wrong, and that he is right, 
in acting according to the wisdom of man. But 
this cannot be decided by letter : he must appear 
in person, and have every thing laid before him. 
But he will have none to contend with but thee 
only ; and thou shalt have none to contend with 
but him only, until he hath decided, which is 
wrong, and which is right. 

" And now, I tell thee, it will be fatal for him, 
if he now refuses to come forward, and judge 
for himself — to decide between him and thee : for 
in this he is called to judge between God and 
man. So that I have laid no heavy burden upon 
him, to contend with the great and learned, be- 
fore every thing is made clear before him. — And 
now let him call to his remembrance the Eleven 
Days, that I said were in store, to stay my heavy 
hand ; but he must not stay till they are up. 
This is my command to him. Let him hastily 
prepare for his journey, as soon as he receives 
the newspaper, which I have ordered thee to 
send to him. As the Bishops have not called 
him forward, let him know, I the Lord have 



47 
called him, to decide the truth of the Prophecy^ 
which I ordered thee to send to the Bishops." 
This warning is given from the Lord to me. 

Joanna Southcott 
Wednesday, Dec. 1st, 1SJ3. 



A Communication given, November 1 3th, 1813, in 
answer to a Text preached by the Rev. Mr. 
Pomeroy, in March, 1799. 

1 Corinthians m. 11. " For other foundation 
-can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus 
Christ." 

I was ordered to mark what follows the text, 
in the 12th verse — " If any man build upon this 
foundation, gold, silver, precious stone, wood, 
hay, stubble ; every man's works shall be made- 
manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it 
shall be revealed by fire ; and the fire shall try 
every man's work, of what sort it is. If any 
man's works abide, which he hath built there- 
upon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's 
works shall be burned, he shall suffer loss ; but 
he himself shall be saved ; yet so as by fire." 

The Answer of the Spirit. 

" Now I shall answer thee from this chapter, 
and begin from the building. See the different 
ways it is placed by the Apostle. Gold is one 
thing ; but know what is said of gold — dross may 
be found mixed with the gold, when it is tried 
by the fire ; and so a man's faith may be fixed 
upon the foundation of my Gospel, that no man 
can lay another foundation for his redemption, but 
by pleading my merit and mercies, to come and die 
for the redemption of man. Thus a man's faith 
may be built upon the Gospel, as gold ; yet when 
it comes to be tried, like gold, by the fire, there 
is some dross may be found amongst it 4 unless i< 



48 

be the true gold, that retained) no dross. Now 
come to silver, which is of less value, yet it 
may be a mark of some faith ; as ye see in the 
world at large, and among the professors of reli- 
gion, who say they believe that Christ came to 
die for the salvation of man, and that all was 
finished when he expired on the cross. Here the 
silver will not bear the fire, without much dross 
appearing, when I bring them back to my Gos- 
pel — that I came to seek and to save that which 
was lost — that by the fall man was lost — that I 
should come again and restore that loss — that I 
should take out of my kingdom all that offended 
and did wickedly — -that I died to overcome the 
world, and bring in the redemption of man — that 
I should send the Spirit of Truth to warn before 
my coming — that the Comforter should come, 
that should abide with you for ever. Now, 
where men have not this faith, the fine gold is be- 
come dim, and the silver is mixed with dross. But 
now come to the precious stone. There is no dross 
there: there is the pearl of great price: there 
is the elect precious : there is the faith fixed 
upon the Rock of Ages: there is the faith fixed, 
as I said in my Gospel, of a man's building his 
house upon a rock, that the storms beat, and 
the winds blew ; but it fell not; because it was 
builded upon the rock; and that rock was 
Christ — who was with Moses in the wilderness 
—who smote the rocks, #nd the waters gushed 
out — who sent the manna from heaven, and 
brought them that were obedient into the pro- 
mised land. 

" These were types and shadows of the first* 
And know, I have explained to thee already why 
the Beasts were ordered to be offered up, as sin- 
offerings, and as peace-offerings; and why I 
rencled the kingdom from Saul — because he did 
not destroy the Beasts, as I commanded. For 
thou know est, as a beast, Satan's curse was pro- 



49 

nounced, in the form of a serpent, to be above 
every beast. But when I come to bring in my 
kingdom ; then those who wish to preserve the 
Beast ^nd have him remain will have my kingdom 
rended from them, as I rended the kingdom from 
Saul. For as I ordered a Lamb to be slain, and the 
blood to be put on the posts of the doors, that it 
might be seen, when the destroying angel went 
through Egypt, when I delivered the children of 
Israel from the hand of Pharaoh, that these stood 
but types and shadows of the end. And know 
from my Gospel, I came to be the Lamb slain 
from the foundation of the world: for as the 
blood of Abel crieth for vengeance, so the blood 
of Christ crieth for reconciliation ; therefore it 
is written by the prophets that the blood of bulls 
and goats will not do ; then said I, lo, I come, 
in the volume of the book it is written of me, to 
do thy will, O God. Then let them look to the 
creation, what was the will of God, when he 
created the woman ; what was the will of God, 
when he pronounced the curse upon the serpent, 
for betraying the woman. When the eyes of 
men's understanding are opened this to discern, 
and their faith is become like thine, they may say, 
he that trusteth in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, 
that cannot be moved : for as the hills stand 
round about Jerusalem, so the Lord standeth 
round about his people, that the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against them — that he carries the 
lambs in his bosom, and gently leads those that 
are with young — that whosoever come unto me, 
I will in no wise cast them out— that I am the 
vfNE, and ye are the branches ; and if ye abide 
in me, ye shall bear much fruit : for I died to 
overcome the world, and raise up my true friends 
and followers in the last day; and then shall I 
freely give them all things. 

" This is the faith that is compared to the 

D 



50 

precious stone, built upon the foundation of my 
Gospel, which is Christ, the Rock of Ages, 
prophesied of by all the Prophets, that is spoken 
of in my Gospel, confirmed by the Apostles, and 
shewn to John, by visions, in the Revelations; 
and this is the Rock that I have given thee faith 
to build upon, that the gates of hell shall not pre- 
vail against. — 

" And now come to the following words — 
" wood, hay, stubble: every man's works shall 
be made manifest." Then now I ask thee, what 
is the use of wood ? Thou sayest, for many 
things : it is good for building ; it is good for 
shipping; it is good to make husbandry; it is 
good for the fire ; all kind of uses wood may be 
put to ; so that the wood is of use in various 
ways. But now I ask thee, what is the use of 
Hay? Thou sayest, for bullocks and horses; but 
of no use for christians, unless it were in a time 
of famine, they might contrive to eat that, in- 
stead of nothing. But as to the stubble, it is 
good for nothing but for fire, or to be cast as 
dung upon the earth. 

" Then now I shall answer thee. Like hay 
is my Gospel become to mankind ; for so great 
is the famine, throughout the nation, of the true 
sense and meaning of my Gospel, what 1 spoke 
of the end, when I come to fulfil it ; that I now 
tell thee, the fine Gold is become dim, the Silver 
is become dross, the Precious Stone is mocked and 
despised, the Wood remaineth to set it on fire ; 
which is now raging with the fury of hell, to des- 
troy the Precious Stone ; and my people are fed 
with hay and stubble. Thus will it be proved, 
when every man's work is tried j and therefore I 
shall kindle a fire the other way, to destroy the 
stubble; but the hay may remain to feed those 
whom thou hast compared to the beasts, for. want 
of knowledge, wisdom, or understanding: be- 
cause in this manner my people have been fed, 



51 

by men's keeping back the truth of my Gospel, 
what I spoke of the end. For this is the day 
that shall declare it; because it is revealed by 
fire-^by the fire of my love; by the fire of mine 
anger shall every man's works now be tried, of 
what sort their faith is : but those whose faith 
abides, which they have built hereupon, accord- 
ing to my Gospel, and what 1 have revealed to 
thee, they shall receive a reward of their faith. 

" And now I shall come to Pomeroy. He will 
suffer loss ; because he burned the work that was 
delivered to him. In this he suffered the loss of 
his honour at the first ; and thou knowest not what 
he hath suffered in the loss of his peace of mind ; 
but what thou knowest not now, thou wilt know 
hereafter. — But as the words are spoken by the 
Apostle, so shall it be unto him : he himself shall 
be saved ; yet so as by fire : he hath suffered the 
fire and indignation of mankind ; and thou 
knowest not what fire he hath suffered within, 
through fear and jealousy. Thou knowest thy 
own sufferings, when the fire hath burnt two 
ways in thy heart, with faith and fear : thus the 
heart knoweth its own bitterness, that a stranger 
doth not intermeddle with. So thou canst no 
more judge of his heart, what different passions 
have been working there ; or what fire, through 
jealousy, he hath felt, any more than he knoweth 
what thou hast felt. But now let him awake as 
one out of sleep ; let him see how the fine Gold 
is become dim; and the Silver become dross; 
that he hath not discerned the Precious Stone ; 
and therefore he burnt the works that were deli- 
vered to his hands ; and thereby he suffered the 
loss he complained of. This let him discern and 
turn unto me; then he will find I shall turn unto 
him; and he shall be saved by the fire of my 
love; because he suffered this loss by the fire of 
♦Satan's malice, which he worked in men against 

d'2 



52 

him without, and the temptations laid strongly 
within. 

" Now come to the following words — " Know 
ye not that ye are the temples of God, and that 
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? But now I 
ask mankind, how they will prove that the Spirit 
of God dwelleth in them, to will, and to do of 
my good pleasure ; that the pleasure of the Lord 
hath prospered in their hands ? For I now tell thee, 
when men come to be this Temple of God, that 
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you, then my Spirit 
cannot be rejected, nor can my will be refused. 

" If any man defile the temple of God, him 
shall God destroy ; for the temple of God is holy, 
which temple ye are." 

" And now I shall answer thee, the meaning 
of these words. Know I have told thee, from 
my visitation to thee, that the Spirit of God 
dwelleth in thee, because I have brought thee 
conformable to all his will, to obey every com- 
mand I have given thee ; and my commandments 
are holy, just, and good, to the everlasting hap- 
piness of mankind. But now come to the unbe- 
lief of mankind. How are the words defiled by 
men ! how are they set at nought, as though 
they were from the devil ! This is defiling the 
temple of the living God, where my Spirit dwel- 
leth within. And let them discern further, how 
the rage of hell hath worked in men to be loving 
and making of lies, to defile thy character. Such 
I tell thee I shall destroy ; because I have said, 
that thy life is wholly dedicated to me; and in 
thee I shall do all my good pleasure. Therefore 
let no man deceive himself; if any man among 
you seem to be wise in this world, let him be- 
come a fool, that he may be wise; which meaneth, 
to acknowledge his own folly, wherein he erred, 
trusting to the wisdom of the world ; then he will 
clearly discern that the wisdom of this world is 
foolishness with God: for, as it is written, he 



53 

taketh the wise in their own craftiness ; and again, 
the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that 
they are vain; therefore let no man glory in men. 
And now I ask thee, what glory he hath to boast 
of in men ; And yet I tell thee, in their craftiness 
they are now taken ; which will be to their own 
shame and confusion ; because the living must lay 
to heart what the dead hath done ; because I have 
already revealed to thee in what manner the craf- 
tiness began, and by whom. 

" And now come to the following chapter, which 
Hows was directed to. — 

(( I know nothing by myself; yet am I not 
hereby justified; but he that judgeth me is the 
Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, 
until the Lord come, who both will bring to light 
the hidden things of darkness, and will make ma- 
nifest the counsels of the heart: and then shall 
every man have praise of God." 

" I shall answer the meaning of the words. It 
is not every man in the world that can or will 
have praise of God, in this judgment; but let 
them discern the words — The time is come, that 
the Lord hath revealed to thee (i the hidden things 
of darkness, and made known the counsels of the 
heart." So that these men, who come forward to 
pass just judgment, as I have commanded by thee, 
to be clear in judging, and just in condemning, 
and to judge between man and man, as I have 
made known the counsels ot the heart ; these 
that assemble together to pass just judgment, in 
the manner I have directed, they will all have 
praise of God. And therefore he may say with 
Paul, " It is a very small thing that I should be 
judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I 
judge not mine own self. He that judgeth me 
is the Lord." Thus far the Apostle's words are 
verified in him; because, thou knowest, I have 
judged him from his temptations, from his perse- 
cution, and from the craftiness of the wise ; and 



54 
as I have judged him, I will now justify him, if 
he condemn the wisdom of the world, by his own 
folly ; to caution every one to be careful how they 
trust to the wisdom of the wise, who trust to their 
own wisdom. And now let him look to the 
chapter through — " That ye might learn in tis, 
not to think of men, above that which is written. 
Let no one of you be puffed up, for one against 
another:" — for thus pride brought on the conten- 
tion ; because they were puffed up against him." 



The answer of the Spirit, why it was said that 
the Mysteries were hid from those I had been 
writing to in 1797. 

" Now I shall answer thee, why it was hid from 
them; — because of the pride of their hearts, who 
boasted of their wisdom, their learning, and their 
greatness ; and I knew with what contempt they 
looked upon one that was so mean and low as 
they judged thee : and therefore they judged the 
Lord another such as theirselves, without consi- 
dering that my ways are not as man's ways, nor 
my thoughts as man's thoughts: for as high as 
the heavens are from the earth, so far are my 
ways from man's way.?, and my thoughts from 
man's thoughts. And therefore it was hid from 
them, to bring down the pride of men. Let them 
look to my humility, when I took man's nature 
upon me: but how was my humility scorned by 
the jich and great, and by the learned, who 
boasted of their wisdom ! Therefore, marvel not 
in thy heart, that I should bring their wisdom to 
the ground, by concealing from them any know- 
ledge of my ways, or my goings, before I bring it 
like the noon-day sun before them, that they may 
acknowledge they could not trace my footstep: 
for to them it was hid, as in the great deep ; and 
my paths past man's finding out: then, what have 
men to boast of? Know it is written, " Let not, 



55 

the wise man boast of his wisdom, nor the strong 
man boast of his strength; neither let the rich 
man boast of his riches :" for riches have wings 
and fly away : and to him that I gave knowledge 
and strength of understanding, to trace my foot- 
steps in many things, but see how soon he lost his 
strength, and became weak, like other men ! And 
know the others, who boasted of their wisdom 
and learning, where is their wisdom gone now ! 
Can men of wisdom plead in their behalf? In thy 
heart thou answerest, no : then let them come to 
my Gospel, and acknowledge that, without me, 
they can do nothing; that every good and perfect 
gift must come down from the Father of light, in 
whom there is no variableness nor the shadow of 
turning: and, to prove the truth of the Scriptures, 
I said it was hid from them. 

Isaiah, xxix. 13 — 16. " Wherefore the Lord 
said, forasmuch as this people drew near me with 
their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, 
but have removed their hearts far from me, and 
their fear towards me is taught by the precept of 
men ; therefore behold, I will proceed to do a 
marvellous work among this people, even a mar- 
Tellous work and a wonder : for the wisdom of 
their wise men shall perish, and the understand- 
ing of their prudent men shall be hid. Woe unto 
them that seek deep to hide their counsel from 
the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and 
they say, who seeth us ? and who knoweth us ? 
Surely your turning of things upside down shall 
be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the 
work say of him that made it, he made me not? 
or shall the thing formed say of him that formed 
it, he had no understanding ?" 

" This I tell thee men have been trying to do : 
they have been turning of things upside down ; 
for they have been placing good for evil, and evil 
for good ; they thought to hide their counsels 
from the Lord, thinking none saw them, or heard 



56 
them : but as none can hide his counsel from mU,. 
I have revealed their counsel to thee, and how 
they wanted to make thee say, he that made thee, 
and revealed my will unto thee, had no under- 
standing. Thus men have tried to make the lan- 
guage of thy heart, that thou shouldest condemn 
thy Creator, as they have done ; to say the Lord 
could never have formed things in this manner ; 
because there was no understanding in his goings, 
in the manner thou art directed. And this is the 
language thou hast heard to day, from the man 
who calleth himself Ephraim; and who advised 
thee to make the devil thy friend ; but I tell thee, 
such men's destruction is sure, without hasty and 
bitter repentance. I shall frustrate the tokens of 
such liars, and make such diviners mad, and turn 
their wisdom back upon their own heads, and 
make their knowledge foolishness. Isaiah, xliv. 
25. For I tell thee, the most hardened sinner 
upon earth, that doeth the will of the devil in all 
things, thinking thereby to make him a friend, 
they will but find him the greater their enemy; 
because 1 shall give him full power over them* 
Therefore I tell thee, Satan's suggestions, to come 
in that manner and work upon the minds of men, 
thinking they shall be favoured by making Satan 
their friend, will only kindle my wrath and indig- 
nation against them, to give them wholly into the 
power of their adversary, which is the devil. 

" So now let such fools take care, for I have 
shewn them what their end will be: for many 
such fools will now arise. Know in what man- 
ner Satan pleaded with thee, how great thou 
shouldest be in hell, if those worshippedst him ; 
and so in like manner will he now plead with 
many, to harden them on in sin. Therefore it is 
written, " woe to the inhabitants of the earth and 
the sea, for the devil is come down unto yon, 
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he 
hath but a short time." So marvel not in thy 



57 
heart that he worketh in men to persecute thee : 
and this persecution will increase. 

" But now I shall come to the chapter, where 
these rnad diviners are mentioned. From the 
words of the Prophet ye may see the end. Let 
men begin the chapter, and read it through. — 
And now come to the last verse — " That saith of 
Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and shall perform all 
my pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt 
be built ; and to the temple, thy foundation shall 
be laid." — Here were things spoken of Cyrus, as 
a Shadow then to the Jews ; but the Substance re- 
mains for the end : the fulfilment of Cyrus was 
never yet accomplished. And to bring men to dis- 
cern the Scriptures clearly, I have spoken many 
things of the Archdeacon and the Chancellor's 
being convinced of their errors, which thou hast 
been stumbled at ; because they are no more, and 
were not convinced. But know J have spoken 
of them two ways ; and one way thou hast seen 
fulfilled by the dead ; and I now tell thee, the 
other way, thou wilt see it perfectly fulfilled, by 
an Archdeacon and a Chancellor, to blame their 
conduct, as I told thee they would blame their- 
selves. So what was not fulfilled in them, thou 
wilt see fulfilled in others : and so they will find 
from the words of the Prophet, in the xlv. chap- 
ter, what was not fulfilled by Cyrus will now 
be fulfilled. For now they shall look unto me, 
and be saved all the ends of the earth. Thus 
will I go on, till the words of the Prophets are 
accomplished : for I said I came not to destroy 
the Law of God or the Prophets, but to fulfil 
them. And let them see what I spoke in the 
Gospel, of the Son of Man, of my Stewards, 
and of my Servants. 

" And now I shall come to the words of the 
Prophet, and bring it back to the Jews and the 
Gentiles. Isaiah, liv. 5, 6, " For thy Maker is 
thine husband (the Lord of Hosts is his name) 



58* 

and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel, the 
God of the whole earth shall he be called. For 
the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken 
and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when 
thou wast refused, saith thy God." 

Isaiah, 1. 1.— " Thus saith the Lord, where is 
the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I 
have put away? or which of my creditors is it 
to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your 
iniquities have you sold yourselves, and for your 
transgression is your mother put away." 

Isaiah, li. 17. — " Awake, awake, stand up, 

Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of 
the Lord the cup of his fury ; thou hast drunken 
the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung 
them out. There is none to guide her among all 
the sons whom she hath brought forth ; neither 
is there any that taketh her by the hand, of all 
the sons that she hath brought up." 

" Now come to the Revelation, the last chap- 
ther — " The Spirit and the Bride say, come : and 
let him that heareth say, come : and let him that 
is athirst, come: and whosoever will, let him 
take the water of life freely." 

" Now I shall answer thee from these Scrip- 
tures, and bring it back to the Jews, and bring 
it out to the Gentiles, as ye call yourselves of the 
Gentiles, without knowing what stock ye sprang 
from. — But now come to my sayings, that I said 

1 came to fulfil the words of the Prophets ; and 
come to the words. of the Apostle : 

Galatians, iv. 1. — " Now I say, that the Heir, 
as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a 
servant though he be lord of all." 

Hebrews, i. 1, 2. — " God who at sundry times 
and divers manners, spake in times past unto 
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last 
days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath 
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he 
made the world." 



59 
Titus, hi. 6, 7.—" Which he shed on us abun- 
dantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour : that 
being justified by his grace, we should be made 
heirs according to the hope of eternal life." 

" Now I shall answer thee, from these Texts 
of Scripture, which I ordered thee to bring to- 
gether. I have already explained to thee the 
meaning of the Prophet's words — " the Lord of 
Hosts is thy husband :" but now I shall call thee 
back to the Jews ; for there ye may come to the 
shadow; because I was born of the Woman, 
without an earthly Father. This men may place 
to the Jews, without considering that she was 
espoused to an husband ; therefore she could not 
be called according to the words of the Prophet ; 
and yet, I tell thee, from the Woman's being put 
away, saying, where is the bill of your mother's 
divorcement ? this alludes to the Jews, as a sha- 
dow of the beginning ; for, through unbelief, my 
mother was put away as an adultrous woman, 
being divorced For though I have ordered thee 
to bring these chapters together, yet, I tell thee, 
they have not one likeness ; because one alludes 
to the Jews, the other to the Gentiles. For as an 
adultrous woman, being put away from her hus- 
band, the Jews through unbelief put away my 
Mother ; and it was for their iniquities that 
she was put away. Therefore, it is for the 
transgression of the Jews, and for their unbelief, 
that my Mother was put away from them, 
as not being acknowledged by them. For, 
when I came, there was no man ; when I called, 
there was none to answer ; because they did not 
believe the report, that I came to redeem Israel ; 
or that I had any power to deliver them. For, 
though I rebuked the winds and the storms ; and. 
the seas gave up to me ; though I walked upon 
the seas, as upon dry ground ; though I worked. 
miracles, by the fishes, to fill, their nets that they 
broke; and though I feci five thousand with the 



60 

five loaves and the two small fishes ; yet all 
this was but as stink in their nostrils — forgotten, 
like the miracles I wrought in Egypt : and though 
I made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the 
lame to walk ; yet all my miracles were despised 
by them ; they went on like the children in the 
wilderness, who murmured, because they were 
not immediately delivered, and brought into the 
promised land ; as they expected that an imme- 
diate deliverance should be wrought for them, 
without having any trouble or difficulties them- 
selves; or without being put to the trial of their 
love, a trial of their faith, or a trial of their 
obedience, they expected to be Abraham's chil- 
dren, and to have the promise made to Abraham 
and Isaac and Jacob, without having Abraham's 
faith, Abraham's trial, and Abraham's obedi- 
ence. This they expected in the wilderness, and 
went on murmuring and complaining, till they 
provoked me to anger to destroy their fathers, 
who came out of Egypt ; for which reason none 
but Joshua and Caleb, that came out of Egypt, 
ever possessed the promised land. Yet I did not 
return the iniquities of the fathers upon the chil- 
dren, but brought them into the land of Canaan. 
Here let them look to the wilderness, how I 
smote the rocks and the waters gushed out ; how 
I sent manna from heaven, and they were fed 
with angels' food ; yet, for all this, they were un- 
thankful; but expected great blessings, that I 
should shew in love to them, while they shewed 
no love to me ; therefore I destroyed them in the 
wilderness. 

" Here was I their spiritual guide, their spi- 
ritual teacher, by the hand of Moses : and I 
came down in the bush amongst them, to shew 
myself to Moses their teacher ; but when I saw 
the perverseness of their hearts, and knowing the 
temptations they had from the devil, after trying 
man for more than four thousand vears, I took 



61 

man's nature upon me ; I became flesh and blood 
to dwell with men ; and like man I became an 
infant of days, to be born of the woman. Here 
I became in all things like man, to suffer tempta- 
tions, to suffer persecution ; to resemble man's 
weakness, by hiding myself. All this I have 
done, to be a judge of the infirmities of man, that 
I might be a judge of what man had to go through, 
and a clear judge of the different conduct in 
mankind. Thus as man I took his nature upon 
me, in the flesh ; but not in the spirit. And 
as man I became the prophet — I clothed the hea- 
vens with blackness, and I made sackcloth their 
covering, when I found myself despised and re- 
jected of men ; I gave my back to the smiters, 
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair ; 
I hid not my face from shame and spitting. 

" Thus as man I bore all the reproach of man; 
and I bore it all for man, that I should come again 
in power to destroy the works of the devil. There- 
fore all shall wax old as a garment ; the moth 
shall eat them up, because they have kindled a 
fire that compasses theirselves about ; with sparks 
of fire, walking in the light of their own fire, and 
in the sparks that they have kindled : this shall 
they have of my hand : they shall lie down in 
borrow. — This hath been already to the Jews ; 
because they walked in the light of their own fire ; 
and rejected the fire of my love to come and un- 
dertake man's cause for him, to become flesh and 
dwell with them. But this wisdom, this mercy, 
this goodness, and this love to mankind, were 
despised and rejected ; because they did not look 
to their everlasting happiness ; neither did they 
consider the shortness of time, how soon the 
moth would eat them up, and how soon they 
might go down with sorrow to their graves — to 
meet the master they had served, and the devil 
whom they had obeyed. Therefore I told them 
their dangers, in my Gospel ; I told them the dif- 



m 

ferent rewards to the righteous and to the wicked ; 
I told them I came to seek and to save that 
which was lost ; that I came to be a light to man- 
kind, for their everlasting happiness in time and 
eternity: but they refused to walk in the light; 
and the fire of my love was despised by them ; so 
I left them to walk in the Sparks of fire they had 
kindled themselves: for I told them the destruc- 
tion that should come upon them, that their holy 
city should be destroyed, that they should be 
scattered in all nations. This 1 told them should 
be their end, if they rejected my offers of love ? 
to gather them together, as a hen gathereth her 
brood under her wings. 

" But know what I said to my friends and fol- 
lowers — who is among you that feareth the Lord, 
that obeyeth the voice of his servant? For I said, 
as a, servant I came amongst them, to be a ser- 
vant to mankind, and to do the will of my Fa- 
ther : for, as a servant doeth every thing to wait 
upon his master, to make him comfortable, to 
take the trouble and burthen from him ; so did I 
come amongst mankind, to take the burthen and 
load from them, which is the burthen of sin and 
sorrow. And therefore I said, they that walked 
in darkness, and had no light, let them trust in 
the name of the Lord, and stay upon their God : 
for he that was near that justified me, was near 
to justify my friends and followers likewise; and 
therefore I told them, that the Lord would be 
with them, as he had been with me : for they 
should be assisted by my Spirit and my Power : 
and my power I gave unto them, by the Holy 
Ghost ; and I filled them with love for me, as I 
was filled in love for them. Thus did I do unto 
them that hearkened to my voice : and they went 
on in my likeness, to give their backs to the smi- 
ters ; for they did not regard the reproach of 
men. So in one likeness, when I took mans na- 
ture upon me, my faithful friends and followers 



63 

took up the cross to follow me, and went on 
bearing the reproach of men. 

Then now, who is he that contendeth with me ? 
let us stand together. Who is mine adversary ? 
let him come near to me. For now is the time 
when my adversary shall be destroyed ; and 
those that walk in the sparks of their own fire, 
which is of anger being kindled by the devil, such 
will be destroyed by the fire of my anger ; be- 
cause theirs is kindled by the fire of hell ; but 
those that are kindled by the fire of love shall 
now be saved by the fire of my love. 

" And now come to the following chapter, 
Isaiah liv. — " Hearken to me, ye that follow after 
righteousness ; ye that seek the Lord, look unto 
the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of 
the pit whence ye are digged ; look unto Abra- 
ham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you ; 
for I called him alone, and blessed him, and in- 
creased him." 

" Now let the wisdom of the world appear, 

And let the wise men answer here, 

How the true Heirs can ever come ? 

Is Abraham mentioned here alone ? 

Did not the woman bear the Son 

That they were all to look unto, 

As well as Abraham, they must know t 

Because the rock it first was me : 

I gave them faith, you all may see ; 

And in old age I gave a son, 

To shew what 1 for faith had done. 

When their obedience had been tried, 

It was to Abraham, 'tis applied, 

That be should offer up that Son ; — 

And in his heart the deed was done. 

So there's the promise at the first, 

That in the end I'll make it burst. 

" So now the Je.ws they must appear 
To own their mother mention'd here, 
That I was born to set them free, 
An Abraham's promise for to see ; 
But does the promise stand alone ? 
No : 'tis the woman bore the Son, 



64 

That they are bid to look unto — 
I speak to Gentiles and to Jews : 
The mother she must first appear 
To bring the Isaac, — men, see clear ; 
But after Isaac he was bound, 
Know then a wife for him was found, 
To bring the Heirs I said I'd bless, 
And so on Jacob it should rest. 

" These are but shadows past and gone 5 
For, like the autumn, all became 
To have these leaves to fly away ; 
The trees stript bare, you all do see, 
And scarce a leaf doth now appear, 
But what seem dead and wither d here, 
But I have told thee, like the spring, 
These leaves again to man I'll bring; 
For they shall all bud out anew, 
And men shall find my words are true, 

" The Esaus I shall all destroy ; 
The Jacob's I shall now enjoy; 
And so the Josephs shall appear — 
The banish'd prisoners now I'll clear; 
Because my wonders shall come on — 
Thou'st felt my power, thou'st felt it strong* 
Which is but cords of love to thee. 
When thou wast filled with jealousy, 
No God in power could now appear, 
As in the Scripture's mention'd there, 
The bowels of the earth to shake ; 
Because that way I said I'd break — 

" For the pillars of heaven shall be shaken, 
and the foundation of the earth shall tremble. 

A part of this book is copied from the Sealed 
Writings, and the remainder from answers given 
by the Spirit at the time when the book was wri- 
ting, and taken from Joanna South cott's mouth 
by me, Ann Underwood. 

Witness, Jane Town ley. 
December 3, 1813. 

[Price One Shilling and Threepence.] 




